This book has been sitting on my shelf ever since a book event where I heard Lottie Hazell speak. I am not sure why I hesitated in picking it up, other than usual, collecting books and adding to the tbr pile is sometimes very different to actually reading them.
This book is going to be quite hard to review. I do not give spoilers, or particularly want to spend a long time trying to unpick the plot. It is a book I enjoyed but I am not sure I loved.
Lottie Hazell is interested in food writing in fiction and, this is fairly clear in this book as food is central to this story. However, I am not sure all the food related moments were required. It is clearly a study of the central character’s relationship with food, and how that relationship with food can so easily be disrupted by the events that take place in our life. Yet, at moments I found that potentially uncomformatable to read, maybe because food and diet is something that is always around us, especially with the social media world that is becoming such a driving force in society. Although, I did also find myself contemplating the idea that food can become something that is used to especially social status, and that our lead character sees food as something that can elevate her and lead to her acceptance in a better social class.
There is no denying that this is a thought-provoking read, and I finished it so I was invested in the book. But it is certainly not going to be a book for everyone. It is well written – it used the chapter headings successfully to almost make them part of the story which I enjoyed, and showed a well-crafted narrative (as I admit, I probably usually gloss over chapter titles if they have them, rather than just numbers). I would be interested to see what else Lottie Hazell writes as I enjoyed the writing. And there is no denying that she has created a book that can trigger discussion and sharing of thoughts; it is probably one very well suited to a book club.
So, I think it is safe to say that this book will stay with me and I am glad that I have read it. But I am not really sure on what my full thoughts about this book are and I would be intrigued to see what other readers have thought about it when they have read it. And, of course, that is another book successfully off the tbr pile in 2026.